Rise in children suffering mental illness 

  Britain has been hit by a huge rise in the number of very young children
  and adolescents seeking treatment from psychiatrists for serious mental
  health problems, new research has revealed. 

  Young people are coming to psychiatrists with a huge range of serious
  mental health problems. They include schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa,
  attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dozens of other behavioural problems.
  Many are caused by drug or alcohol abuse. 

  Dr Kedar Dwivedi, working in Northampton, said that when he started his
  career 20 years ago he had 200 referrals annually. Now the total was
  around 1,200. 

  Dr Jonathan Dare, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and
  director of south London's Maudsley NHS Trust, said he treated four-,
  five- or six-year-olds who often showed signs of severe emotional
  deprivation. 

  Obsessive disorders were commonly seen in seven- or eight-year-olds,
  Dare said. One nine-year-old changed clothes as often as seven times a
  day for fear of being dirty. 

  The sample included nearly a tenth of practising child and adolescent
  psychologists in England and Wales. 

  However, a government report last year said that around one in 10 young
  people suffer from a mental disorder, more than previously thought. 

  A Department of Health spokeswoman said that it recognised there was
  strong and increasing pressure on children and adolescent mental health
  services. She said that around £30million was being invested this year
  in a range of projects designed to tackle the problem. 

  Jason Burke
  Sunday September 10, 2000
  The Observer

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  "Perceptions" note:

  English authorities are applying ever greater pressures on children
  to `compete' against each other, especially in elites or would-be elite
  families.

  This pressure is being applied at the same time that women are also
  under greater pressure to work away from home, depriving children of
  'normal' maternal presence.

  Although a little late, confirms conclusions and forecasts in
  "conditioning devices" page (Google)

  late also was news in "youngbrain.txt" page

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              FURTHER REFERENCES

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file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/medicalnote.txt